Melbourne: China's Li Na stormed into her second successive Australian Open semi-final on Tuesday, recovering from early stumbles in both sets before blowing away German Andrea Petkovic 6-2, 6-4 with a ruthless barrage of clean hitting.
Li, her country's first top-10 player, was broken in the first game of each set but attacked the German's serve furiously to close out the match in 80 minutes at Rod Laver Arena.
Petkovic appeared nervous on her grand slam quarter-final debut and sprayed two forehands to concede the first set.
Serving to stay in the match in the second, Petkovic slapped a forehand long to hand her Chinese opponent victory, Li celebrating the win by yelping "Yeah!" and grinning at her husband and coach Jiang Shan in the stands.
Li will play either top seed Caroline Wozniacki or Francesca Schiavone for a place in the final.
Bureau Report
First Published: Tuesday, January 25, 2011, 09:42